Early Beginnings
by absolutefiction
Summary: AU. Natsu is not having a good day. After getting another 'timeout', Natsu grumbles about his terrible morning before getting rudely interrupted by an annoying girl. This is why he hated girls; they just get you into more trouble! [Drabbles of Natsu and Lucy throughout their AU childhood/adolescence]
1. Worst day ever

"Natsu!"

The pink-haired boy cringed at the sound of the high-pitched screech, also known as his new pre-school teacher. He threw his hands up in mock defense, "It wasn't my fault! He took my lego piece!"

Said middle-aged woman sighed, shaking her head in defeat, "Biting him isn't the nice way of getting it back though. We've went over this before, Natsu. Go sit in the corner for five." She pointed but Natsu didn't need the guidance, him and the 'corner' were well acquainted.

The five year old stomped his way over to the 'corner' before he slumped down, facing the corner of the wall in a cross-legged manner. Today was not his day. First his foster dad yelled at him for something that was not his fault and how he was getting harped at by the pre-school lady too.

Before Natsu could dwell longer on his five-year-old angst and pout some more, a paper airplane came zooming by, hitting him in the back of his head. The pink-haired boy growled before turning around sharply, scanning the room for his attacker. They would pay.

But what he did not expect was to see a blonde, brown-eyed girl across the room running over to him, worry in her eyes, "Oh I'm so sorry! I was practicing...I didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry."

Natsu was flustered at the girl's incessant apologies, blushing a little as he picked up the paper creation, handing it back to her, "S'okay."

She smiled, "Thanks."

Then she noticed where they were in the classroom, "Are you in trouble?"

Natsu frowned, his eyes darkening as he turned back around to face the corner, hoping the girl would take the hint and leave him alone, "What does it look like? Go away."

The blonde girl pouted at his behavior, "It was just a question."

"Well who asked-?" Natsu turned to glare at her but was stopped when she flicked his forehead.

The girl gasped, "Oh I'm sorry!"

"What was that for?!" Natsu screeched, feeling tears prick his eyes as he held his forehead clasped behind both of his hands.

"I'm sorry! You weren't supposed to turn around!" The girl complained, angered at the boy's sudden movement; she had meant to flick the back of his head which would have been a lot less painful, but the boy had to go and turn around on her.

"Oh so it's my fault you flicked my forehead? You could've just not flicked anything at all!" Natsu grumbled, standing up to face the girl and forgot the fact that he was supposed to be in 'time out'.

The girl placed her hands on her hips, "Well who asked you?! Boys are so stupid."

"Stupid? Me?! Girls are stupider! You're the one who can't fly a paper airplane right." Natsu growled back, stepping closer to the girl in hopes of intimidating her. But she would have none of that as she stepped even closer, their foreheads almost touching and their eyes glaring at each other.

"Natsu, Lucy!"

The two children instantly deflated at the sound of their aggravated pre-school teacher. They twirled around in time to watch as the woman walked towards them looking none too impressed at their screaming match, "What on earth are you two doing? Natsu you're supposed to be in 'time out' and Lucy, you know we are not supposed to play with someone when they're in trouble."

"I wasn't playing with him!" Lucy whined.

"I was until she came over and ruined everything!" Natsu screamed at the same time.

The pre-school teacher sighed, not wanting to deal with these two troublemakers. Why was it always them? If it wasn't Natsu causing mischief then it was this blonde alter ego of his, "Natsu, you will be here for another ten minutes and Lucy? You'll be joining him. No questions, buts, or complaints. Sit down now and I will not hear a peep out of either of you, understood?"

The two children opened their mouths as if to complain but were shut right up at the teacher's evil glare, "Sit."

They grumbled and turned towards the wall in silence, sitting down.

Natsu sighed.

This day was just getting worse. Now he had a whole ten minutes more onto his 'timeout' and he was no longer alone: who was this kid anyways? This was why he hated girls. They only caused more problems for him.

"Hey, psst."

The boy glanced over and saw the blonde girl covering her mouth with her hand, hiding the fact that she was talking away from their teacher, "What now?" He grumbled, not wanting to get in trouble again because of this girl.

The girl blushed and frowned, looking at the ground in between them before replying, "I'm sorry. I got you more in trouble."

Natsu blushed at the girl's apology, not expecting it from the fiery girl, "Umm, it's okay," he scratched his cheek in embarrassment, "I'm sorry too I guess."

The girl looked back at him before beaming his way. Natsu suddenly felt it get hot as his cheeks burned a new shade of red, who was this girl? "What's your name?"

"Natsu. What's yours?"

The blonde's smile widened as she gave him her hand in hopes he would shake it, "I'm Lucy, wanna be friends?"

Natsu stared at her hand before returning to Lucy's smiling face. The pink-haired boy smiled slowly then outright grinned, showing off his canines, before taking her hand in his and shaking it, "Okay, nice to meet you Luce."

Maybe today was not the worst day ever after all.

* * *

**A/N: **There's something about the Fairy Tail characters as children that I always love. Side note though: I know I have this one shot as 'complete' but I maaaaay or maaay not update this once in awhile with other adventures that Lucy and Natsu might have as children growing up in this random AU I have in my head. So you might want to follow this if you want to see if I do update or not...I don't know, it's up to you. ;)


	2. A Late Night Dip

"Natsu, I don't think we should be in here."

"Oh come on Luce," the pink haired teen gently took the blonde's hand in hopes of calming her down, "it'll be fine. No one will see us."

Lucy frowned but followed him in anyways as they closed the door behind themselves. The young blonde looked out to the indoor swimming pool with anticipation and trepidation. It would be so fun and relaxing taking a dip in the pool after such a blisteringly hot summer day like today had been but they also ran the risk of getting totally busted for breaking into the pool at such an ungodly hour.

Leave it to her childhood friend to give Lucy her very own criminal record.

The blonde looked over to see Natsu already peeling his shirt off, giving her a decent look at his flat stomach before the shirt came up over his head. His spiky pink hair was mussed up by the cotton shirt and although you could see the beginnings of some muscle definition, Natsu definitely still looked like the preteen boy he was. But that did not stop Lucy from still blushing at the sight of her bare-chested friend nonetheless.

Lucy shrieked as Natsu took off in a run, cannon balling into the deep end, splashing everything around him, including the not-too-impressed Lucy, "Natsu, you idiot!"

The boy broke the surface of the water with a big laugh and gulp of air, "Oh Luce, come on in, the water's amazing!"

That was really all she needed in terms of encouragement as she sighed and started stripping down to her bathing suit, "But what if someone catches us?"

"They won't Luce, calm down."

"But-"

"Oh quit your worrying and get in already!"

Lucy glared at him weakly before dipping her leg into the cool chlorinated water. It felt so good! She spotted the side ladder of the pool a few feet away and decided she would take a more slower approach to swimming than Natsu had done.

Unfortunately, her timid entry into the pool was short lived as the door they had closed behind them earlier was clicked back open, announcing the arrival of the graveyard security guards. With a squeal Lucy was in the water, hiding with all her might. Natsu heard their entrance as well as he pulled Lucy under the water with him.

The blonde's heart was pumping as she felt worry grip her at the thought of getting caught for trespassing and breaking and entering. Her parents were going to freak! Yes they were hiding under the water for now but they definitely had made plenty of noise upon entry and were going to need air eventually.

Suddenly Natsu's lips were on hers, shocking Lucy to the very core. This was her first kiss! And it was with Natsu who had practically been her brother ever since they met long ago in preschool. And they were underwater; her first kiss was underwater! The excitement of hiding from the guards had gotten to the both of them and without much thought that Natsu had pulled his friend closer to deepen the kiss. His awkward and unpracticed lips sloppily kissed her virgin ones as the friends held each other close.

Lucy did not have much time to savour the taste and feel of her friend's lips on hers for the lack of air was finally hitting both of their lungs. Both teens let go of each other and swam haphazardly to the surface, reaching it and gasping for air.

"What do you kids think you're doing in there?!"

Lucy felt more than saw the flashlight that was being directed their way. She avoided the security guard's eyes and instead looked towards Natsu who was staring at her as well. The pink haired teen smirked then sent the flustered girl a wink before hopping out of the pool, immediately getting on the security guard's case, taking all the blame for their mischievousness actions that evening.

Although Lucy was glad she got out of most of the trouble with very minimal consequences on her part, she was definitely never going to regret anything that happened this night.

Lucy touched her lips and smiled.

* * *

**A/N: **This short short drabble obviously takes place after our previous chapter. I'm not really planning on following any chronological order with these one-shots/connected story chapters so bare with me and hopefully you stick around for the ride to see where these two take off. The first chapter was obviously them meeting for the first time and this one is set more around them being around 14-16 years of age. :) R&R!


	3. Girls are stupid

His lungs were on fire, burning as they gasped for air.

Natsu kept pumping his arms, running for his life despite the pain. His breath coming out in large heaves as he sprinted. His feet barely even touched the ground as he kicked off again with the other, pushing himself to go as fast as his little legs would carry him. He was practically soaring. Glancing back over his shoulder, he groaned, realizing that they were still right on his tail.

Girls.

Natsu knew the other boys were in a similar predicament, running away from their female classmates. It was a new development that had boggled his young mind. The girls had created this new game that had caught his attention initially; Natsu was always keen on learning and playing new games to keep himself from getting bored. Nothing positive came from him being bored.

But this game was no fun at all.

The almost devilish look the girls had given him had caused the pink-haired boy to shiver as one of the girls mumbled something about 'girls chasing boys'. Natsu did not understand the game's concept let alone how this could possibly be seen as 'fun' at all.

It had all started out innocently, Natsu dodging and running around, avoiding every girl that chased him around the school yard. But Natsu's blood ran cold when he witnessed what happened when a boy was 'captured' by a girl.

The young boy cringed at the memory and felt sorry for the boy from earlier when the girl planted her wet, gross cooty-covered lips all over the boy's face. Natsu wanted to hurl. The stakes for this game had risen higher than Natsu could have ever predicted.

And thus he continued running.

Running for his life.

The boy continued to search for a place to hide or anything that would protect him from the monsters behind him. Their cat calls and screeches would haunt the pink-haired boy for the rest of his nights. Tears began to sting his eyes with each of his dry swallows, but Natsu pressed on anyways.

It was not much longer before Natsu spotted a place to hide. As he came zipping around the corner, the boy spotted a few bushes along the side of his path. Taking a quick glance back to make sure none of the girls spotted him, Natsu dove into the prickly bushes. Any pain he might have felt from the thorns and bristles from the bush were forgotten out of sheer desperation for safety from the ravenous females.

This was why Natsu could not stand girls. They were completely insane! The weirdest creatures Natsu had ever come in contact with in his short existence on this earth. Girls were the worst to play with, always so fragile and delicate; you couldn't punch them without them crying home to their mommies and getting him into trouble.

Girls were something to stay clear of.

Natsu held his breath, not making a sound, as the group of girls came bounding around the corner and continued to run unknowingly right past him. As soon as they were out of sight and ear shot, Natsu sighed, relief running through him and his sore muscles. Taking a quick glance around, Natsu finally stood up from his hiding place, hopping out of the bush before dusting himself off. His shirt was dirty and his jeans were kind of torn up making Natsu groan; his mother was going to have a field day with this one.

"Natsu?"

The boy tensed at the sound of his name coming from female lips. He slowly turned around, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. But he sighed in relief once more when he realized it was only his best friend, Lucy, walking towards him, her eyes filled with a combination of worry and confusion, "Hey Luce."

The blonde girl was wearing her usual side pony tail and a nice summer dress. Despite her immediate 'girly look', as Natsu had infamously dubbed it, Lucy had scraped up knees and rolled up sleeves. Natsu smiled. She had become his constant companion since his early days in preschool; the two were never seen too far away from each other.

"Why were you in that bush?" Lucy asked when she reached her pink-haired friend, raising and eyebrow at her friend's odd choice in recess activity.

Natsu cringed at the memory, "The girls were chasing me so I hid there from them."

"Why were they chasing you?"

"How should I know?!" Natsu threw his hands up in the air in confusion, "Girls are so weird!"

Lucy became annoyed, crossing her arms in front of her, "Hey!" giving him a whack on the head at the 'weird girl' comment, "You probably did something to make them chase you."

Natsu grumbled, rubbing the new goose egg that was developing on his head; she had a tougher swing than he would like to admit, "It was 'cause of some stupid game they made up."

"What game?"

"I don't know, the girls said tag and then they all started chasing all us boys and went around kissing us when they caught us!" Natsu grew more hysterical and loud as he continued on his story, animatedly painting a horrific portrait of his recess experience thus far, his arms waving about frantically.

Lucy cringed, feeling sorry for her friend and having hit him after all of that, "I'm sorry."

Suddenly the school bell rung, gaining the children's attention and alerting them that recess had finally ended. Natsu frowned but turned back to Lucy asking, "What for?"

"Well that doesn't sound like fun and I hit you," Lucy pouted.

Natsu cleared his throat, pulling on his tee shirt. Was it getting hotter or what? "Oh it's okay, Luce. You didn't know. Girls are just weird, it's not your fault."

The blonde's cute apologetic mood was quickly replaced with a heated glare sent towards the pink-haired boy, "Weird? I'm not weird!"

Natsu gulped at the girl's sudden change, "Uhhh, I didn't mean...that is, _you're _not weird, Luce!"

Lucy huffed, turning towards their school, walking back to their class before they got in trouble. The blonde stomped her feet, fists forming as she made her way back to the school, refusing to continue this conversation with him, Natsu frowned, following the blonde back, "Lucy, what'd I say?"

"I'm a girl and you just called girls weird."

"But you're not like a girl," Natsu explained, hoping she would understand. He was never as eloquent with his words as she was.

"But I _am_ a girl, you idiot!" Lucy growled, wanting to give the boy a matching black eye to go along with his throbbing goose egg.

Natsu jogged in front of her, stopping just a ways before her which caused the girl to stop her dramatic walk back to class and glare at him. The pink-haired boy raised his hands in defense, noticing the murderous look he was being sent, "No that's not what I mean! You are a girl but you're not like them. You're different! You weren't chasing me around all day and being gross."

"Different how?"

The look he was getting from Lucy told him that the next words that came out of his mouth would determine whether or not he would live and walk away from this, "I uhhh...well you see...umm-" Natsu blushed, finding a particular pebble next to Lucy's pink sandals incredibly interesting.

"Spit it out already, we're going to be late!" Lucy huffed.

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his cheeks heat up, "Well umm...you're a girl but..." he felt his eyes drag up from where they were staring at the paved ground below them, up to her eyes, "if you were chasing me for a kiss, I'd let you catch me."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey folks! This one is set around the two of them being like...8 or 9 me thinks. Let me know what you think! :)

ALSO! As of May 2nd, I will be AWOL. Not here. Gone. Meaning no updates from me. I've just graduated from university and am going on an internship to central Nigeria until mid-June. It's going to be crazy awesome and I'll be working in a field of study I have developed an interest in: Linguistics. I love Languages in general so it's become a new passion of mine.

Sorry for this temporary hiatus but I will be back to updating as soon as I can...so like June 13th abouts. Thanks for all of your continued support and I hope you all have a wonderful May/June while I'm away from the internet world. :D


	4. Fantasy

Lucy cringed when her head hit the cold hard glass she was leaning on. The gravel road Natsu was driving down made leaning on the passenger side window very difficult and extremely painful; each bump on the road causing her head to hit the glass hard with her forehead. Deciding against it, the blonde sat up straight once more, rubbing her injured head.

"You okay?"

Natsu's voice interrupted her movements, causing her to sigh again at the reminder that he was there. Yes, she realized he was driving the car but his silence had been welcome when compared to anymore stupidity that could have come out of his mouth. It was not his fault, she knew that, but Natsu had the tendency to make things a million times worse with the simple utterance of a mere single syllable at times.

Yes, if it was not obvious yet, she was kind of pissed at the world at the moment.

"I'm fine," came her melancholic response.

"Luce," Natsu pressed on despite the finality in the blonde's tone, "tell me what's going on."

Lucy huffed, turning to look at the passing lights flashing beside her through the car window; the scarce amount of street lights signifying that Natsu was driving them further and further away from the city and further and further into the outskirts of town. Natsu had been nice so far in not pestering her or asking any questions since she had called him only a half an hour or so ago on his cell phone. But she knew his patience was waning; the boy wanted to know why he had to play her knight in shining armour this evening and she couldn't really blame him.

The blonde had called Natsu at the wee hours of the morning in desperation. She could not quiet her mind, nor could she sleep. It had been a rocky evening with her father due to another one of their conversations and she was not about to share this piece of knowledge with Natsu anytime soon. She knew the boy was not on good terms with her father and neither was he on his; ever since Lucy could remember her father had never seen her best friend in any good light. He had always been a 'distraction' or simply 'not good enough for the future heir of Heartfillia Corporation'.

She sighed, "It's nothing."

Natsu was not going to have that, suddenly breaking the car in the middle of the road. This caught Lucy completely off guard as she flew forward, almost nailing her already aching forehead against the boy's dashboard. She swiftly turned in his direction, fueled by anger and confusion, "What the hell was that for? You almost killed me, you idiot!"

The pink haired teen ignored her, undoing his seat belt and glancing at her. His eyes took her breath away. Natsu's mouth was in a firm, tight line as his eyes hypnotized her with their intensity. He was frustrated with her and obviously incredibly tired. Lucy suddenly felt bad for calling him at such an awful time of night but he had become her only consolation in the world her father was creating for her.

Once she turned eighteen, which was in a mere four months, she would officially be on the road to becoming the new future CEO of her father's company. It was too much for her but the old man would have none of it, already lining up meetings and such for the poor girl. Her future was being planned before her very eyes and without her opinion or say in the matter. Lucy was spiralling out of control and felt entirely like she was simply sitting in the passenger seat of her own life.

The irony was not lost on her as she stared back at Natsu from the passenger seat of _his _car. The old piece of junk had been Natsu's project for as long as the boy had his driver's licence. It was his distraction when nothing else worked for him. The boy's boredom had always been his downfall, getting him into trouble at every turn. The boy had been labelled 'delinquent' since before she met him all those years ago in preschool.

Lucy sighed, not understanding what Natsu could possibly be thinking. The seconds ticked by as the boy continued to hold her gaze, almost trying to telepathically figure out what had caused Lucy to dial his number at such an ungodly hour of the night. Not that he really minded being woken up by his damsel in distress; but he was not about to go telling her that.

Without any warning the boy turned his keys, effectively shutting the car off before he whispered, "Follow me," and was suddenly getting out of his car.

Lucy deadpanned, surprised and confused once more by the odd and mysterious behaviour coming from her friend. She followed him from the seat with her eyes as he closed the car door behind him and walked to the front of his car. Natsu turned to her and stared back at her, jerking his head back, voicelessly telling her to do what he said.

The blonde sighed and undid her seat belt as well, finally listening to Natsu. Her hand grabbed the door latch and opened the passenger door, shifting and stepped outside. She closed the door behind her, before finally walking up to Natsu as he stood in front of his car. Lucy stopped in front of him, her arms crossing, "What is it?"

Natsu smirked almost devilishly before grabbing the blonde by her waist and hoisting her up onto the hood of his car. Lucy squeaked in surprise at the sudden change in position and the feel of his strong hands on her body. The combination of it all left her slightly dazed as she found herself sitting before him on his car, "What are you doing?" She asked, her voice coming out almost breathy.

His eyes held a certain mischievous glint in them as his smirk grew, "I've always wanted to try this."

And then his lips were on hers.

Lucy's eyes went wide as she felt Natsu's arms wrap around her, pulling her close. The feel of his lips on hers left her brain going haywire. The shock of the boy's actions slowly wore off as her eye lids slowly drooped closed. Her arms rose to wrap around his neck, deepening the kiss and pulling the boy nearer to herself. Natsu took this as an invitation, leaning down and pushing Lucy back onto his car. Feeling his weight on top of her felt like electricity as Lucy decided to wrap her legs around the boy. With her long legs hanging limp off the front of the car, Lucy lifted them up and pulled Natsu closer, wrapping them around the boys hips. Having him pressed so close to her, between her legs, caused Natsu to moan into her mouth.

Lucy felt the fireworks going off in her head. A distant memory of a preteen boy kissing her underwater came to her mind as she remembered the only other time Natsu had kissed her. The blonde never realized how much she missed it as she desperately held onto the teenage boy before her now. It had been a few years since but it was still so very thrilling; her heart was soaring.

And just like that, the two teens let go, gasping for breath. Lucy opened her eyes to see Natsu above her with just as dazed an expression on his face as she had. The boy smiled before pulling the blonde back up to a sitting position, his arms still wrapped around her waist as he stood himself back up. Lucy let her legs fall back down as she leaned into Natsu.

"What was that for?" Lucy whispered against Natsu, her forehead pressed up against his right shoulder.

She felt his muscles twitch as he laughed, "Oh just always wanted to try that out."

Lucy lifted her head and raised her eyebrow, her forehead scrunching up in confusion, "Try what out?"

"Kiss you on the hood of my car," Natsu was blushing a tad as he rubbed the back of his neck, "It's kinda been one of my fantasies since forever."

Lucy gulped and found herself blushing. How was it that no matter how crummy her life could be at times, Natsu always had a knack for rescuing her from the depths of despair? This was a reason they had stuck together for so long; no matter what, they always had each other's backs. But were they best friends still? If Natsu was having fantasies about making out on his car with her, then Lucy was left to wonder.

"Hey Luce?"

The blonde teen turned to him, noticing that his eyes had become intense and serious once more, "Yea?"

"I uhh," Natsu scratched his head again, "there's something I wanted to ask you."

Lucy gulped, "What is it?"

"Would you be my girlfriend?"

Her eyes widened as her heart sped and almost beat right out of her chest. Why oh why did Natsu have to be so blunt? It nearly gave her a heart attack. After more than ten years of friendship and all its ups and downs, Natsu Dragneel had finally asked Lucy Heartfillia out. It happened. Lucy felt that all those years of having a girly crush on her best friend had finally come to fruition in this one moment. Lucy felt the sharp sting of tears pricking behind her hazel eyes as she smiled at her pink-haired friend, "Yes."

Natsu's worried face instantly split in half as he sent her a beaming smile. The teenage boy hooted and hollered before slamming his lips to hers again in celebration. The two simply laughed against each others' lips, forgetting what time it was and ignoring the beautiful sun that was rising up behind them.

* * *

**A/N: **Woah! 2 chapters in one evening? Crazy right?! R&R! I'm always super insecure when writing anything physical like kissing so any feedback would be awesome. :)

Oh and just for a side note, this is the oldest they've been so far in the small series; 17 years old abouts. I'm having tons of fun plotting their lives out in such an odd order. :P


	5. Just cry, stupid!

Lucy sniffled, feeling as if the world had decided to kick her while she was down. The young girl used the long sleeve of her new black dress to wipe away at the tears and snot that were messing up her usually cheery face.

The blonde sighed, feeling more tears coming on at the sight of the gravestone before her. Lucy had chosen to remain behind after the funeral processions were finished, wanting to be alone with her mother one last time before she had to say the goodbyes she was never able to before, "Mama," Lucy whimpered in between her quiet sobs, "I miss you so much."

The young girl felt incredibly frustrated at her inability to express her misery at the loss of her mother. Being a lover of words, Lucy was surprised at how weak and feeble her vocabulary had become and how many times she had simply repeated the same miserable phrases over and over.

"Lucy?"

Said blonde jumped at the unexpected voice behind her. Lucy twirled her head towards the new person, her hair splaying across her face at the sudden jerk of her head, "Natsu what are you doing here?" She exclaimed while awkwardly fixing her hair and pulling it back into place and away from her face.

The young boy gave her an almost disgusted face at her question, "What do you mean what am I doing here?" He shoved his hands into his dress pants that his foster mother had forced him to don on for the occasion before walking the rest of the way to Lucy, still sitting at her mother's grave, "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't come back? You weren't inside so I figured you'd be out here still."

Lucy had already turned back to the stone before her and only nodded once Natsu was finished. She knew it had been a stupid question but having the boy standing just behind her only seemed to make her feel worse.

Natsu was the last person she wanted to see and for him to see her crying her brains out. Having lost both of his parents only a few years ago, Lucy definitely felt like her pain was not worth this many tears compared to the amount this boy had already suffered. Trying to seek comfort from her pink-haired best friend was not on her list of things to do.

Lucy wiped up her tears once more and forced the biggest smile on her face before standing up, turning to face Natsu once more, "Well we better head back before my father worries about me too."

With that, she started skipping joyfully back to the funeral house where many had gathered for snacks and further mourning. But before Lucy could make it even a few steps away, Natsu had roughly grabbed her wrist to stop her. The blonde immediately frowned and furrowed her brows, sending a glare towards her friend; her patience was ready frayed as it was without Natsu's rash behaviour, "What is it now?"

Her voice had come out harsher than she had meant it to but Natsu was not even phased by the blonde's attitude. He merely matched her anger with a scowl of his own, "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Lucy ripped her hand from his grip before crossing her arms across her flat chest, a deeper glare now in place, "Nothing's wrong with me, jerk."

"Jerk? And there's definitely something wrong with you if you can be all smiling and happy after your mom died."

Lucy sucked in a quick breath, feeling the sting of hot tears hit the back of her chocolate brown eyes once more at Natsu's bluntness, "Oh? Is it a crime to be happy? I have to be a big baby and cry for weeks on end just cause someone died? Who made you boss of crying or whatever, stupid?!"

Lucy realized she was fighting like a two year old but she did not care two cents about it at that moment in time. Her arms fell to her sides and her tiny hands were balled into fists, ready to strike this boy down if he continued to press her buttons; why were they even friends in the first place? All they did was fight it seemed.

Natsu's frown deepened even more so. He was not impressed at the girl's behaviour and was beyond frustrated at how stubborn she could be, "I ain't no stupid boss of crying you weirdo. There's nothing stupid or babyish about crying when your parents die."

That was the last straw for Lucy as she wound her fist up and let it strike her friend in the face...or what was supposed to be his face. Her fist only made it to his shoulder but still managed to cause the boy to lose his footing and fall to the ground. She huffed and held her hand to her chest, realizing only afterwards that punching hurt the puncher too.

Natsu's eyes were wide but only for a brief moment before he was back on his feet, glaring at the girl, "If you weren't a girl I'd..." He shook his head and sighed, "What's wrong? Why are you being so stupid? Just cry already!"

"Why are you so bent on me crying, huh?!" Lucy was practically shouting at this point, "Why should I even listen to you when you never even cried once when BOTH your parents died?!"

Lucy suddenly gasped and covered her mouth, realizing that her anger had gotten her carried away again. Neither of the two had spoken of that day when the boy's parents had died since. Of course Lucy had been worried but she had respected her friend's wishes and decided it would be best to let Natsu bring it up if he wanted to talk about it. Only problem was that he never had. Lucy had waited and waited for Natsu to finally crack and talk or at least cry but he did nothing; he only smiled and kept walking. Of course, she never knew what the boy did behind closed doors but she definitely felt hurt that he never felt comfortable enough with her enough to be honest with his feelings around her.

And that was why Lucy was feeling the anger she was feeling now. How could Natsu think it was fair to demand she cry when he never had with her?

But now the girl felt awful. Natsu's eyes had widened before the boy bowed his head, hiding his face almost all together from Lucy with his pink and wild bangs, "Natsu I...I'm sorry I didn't mean it-"

"No it's true," Lucy frowned at being interrupted but held herself back from saying something, realizing Natsu wanted to say something, "I know how you're feeling, Luce, and it sucks," Natsu finally looked up at and Lucy gasped a little when she noticed the watery twinkling in his charcoal eyes, "When my parents died all I wanted to do was cry forever. The pain never goes away. But no matter how long or often I cried or talked or thought about 'em," he paused and sniffled, "they never came back."

A small tear escaped, tracing its way down the boy's face. Lucy, on the other hand, was already a mess, tears pouring out of her brown, doe eyes at the boy's confession, "Natsu...I'm sorry."

Natsu could only smile his infamous carefree grin, the few tears he had marring it a bit of its true joy, "It's okay."

Lucy rubbed at her eyes furiously before looking back at Natsu who was doing the same, "But why are you telling me this now?"

He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, "Cause I wish I had cried more and talked more...I guess. It's important...I still miss 'em...so much-" he wad interrupted by a choked sob of his before continuing, "and I had a friend like you who wanted to listen and I still didn't say nothing, so I'm not letting you make the same mistake," he wiped his face before looking at Lucy with a much more determined gaze, "So when I say you should cry, you should listen stupid."

And with that, Lucy lost all of her lady-like composure and ran into Natsu's arms, knocking the two over onto the ground before finally letting the waterworks flow.

Lucy would never forget this day, the only time her pink-haired friend cried more than she had...even if he made her swear to never tell a living soul about it as long as she lived or he'd punch her even if she was a girl.

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**A/N:** Long time to see! I'm back from my trip to Peru and ready to write a ton more fanfiction when I get the chance. I'm moving to Japan in a month so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post but I'll do my best! I had to get something up so I actually wrote this using my phone...haha. It was hard.

I want to thank everyone for the continued support even while I was gone; it was super nice coming back to an inbox full of new followers and reviews. :)

Love you all and hope you enjoy this one...let me know your thoughts!


	6. Skateboard Confessions

It was a typical warm and peaceful day in the middle of their summer break. Natsu was comfortably sprawled out and laying on his back, his arms and legs outstretched as far as his pre-pubescent limbs would allow him. The soft and vibrant grass tickled his ears as Natsu sighed, listening to the calming sounds of birds tweeting and the rough sound of chalk hitting the pavement nearby. The pink haired boy slowly opened his eyes, squinting when the sun blinded him. Turning his head to the left, he watched his best friend at work, enjoying the summer air with a day outside in his front lawn and driveway, while Lucy worked away on some chalk drawing.

Lucy was focused on what she called her masterpiece, sleeves rolled up as she went to work on the hot cement below her, a worn out piece of pink chalk in her hands. The blonde had arrived at his house earlier that morning out of a mix of pure boredom and probably a lame attempt at avoiding too much time at home with her father.

Natsu smirked and rolled his eyes knowingly; he had always wondered why the girl could never enjoy the summer break as much as he did. The freedom from homework and nagging teachers was a liberation for the nearly-always-failing boy. But for Lucy, her brilliant mind needed-craved-the constant mental activity; the summer was her definition of hell on earth, something Natsu would never understand.

Either way, she had arrived at his house earlier that morning. Luckily his foster parents had not been home, having taking off for the week to God only knows where; Natsu did not mind so much and had gotten used to not asking any questions; they provided a roof over his head and food so Natsu could care less what else they did with their time.

The pink haired boy sighed and sat up, stretching out the kinks in his neck before turning to Lucy only a few feet away. Her head snapped up and looked at him in almost horror, "Don't look! It's not ready!"

Natsu, dumbstruck, simply laid back down in the grass having nothing else better to do and shocked at how determined the blonde was at keeping something as silly as a childish chalk drawing a secret from him. He grumbled to himself about being bored but Lucy ignored him, her tongue sticking out and matching the determined look in her chocolate brown eyes.

Natsu found himself sighing again that morning. His chest felt tight again at the sight of his best friend at work. As soon as they had hit puberty, Natsu had noticed small changes in Lucy and himself. Whether it be her laugh or simply the way she said his name, Natsu had suddenly become hooked on Lucy and everything she meant to him.

And he would never admit that to another living soul as long as he lived. Not even the girl in question.

"Okay, it's done."

Natsu sat up and placed his hand underneath himself to balance himself as he stood up. His legs felt stiff from not being used for longer than ten minutes but he walked it out by seeing what the fuss was all about over this chalk drawing.

But when he finally got a good look at what Lucy had been hiding from him all this time, he could not even hide the small intake of breath that escaped. Glancing up at Lucy, who happened to be scrutinizing him for his response, Natsu felt a bit of heat reach up to his cheeks.

It was a drawing of him.

Natsu knew he had an infamous grin from the many remarks and comments from other people his whole life. Although he had a rather large-and sometimes obnoxious, according to Gray-smile, the pink haired preteen had avoided showing off his pearly whites for awhile now. It was not some new life choice on the part of the boy but simply a natural consequence of having less to smile about in his life.

But there, on the sun-heated pavement, was a chalked-up portrait of that very infamous grin staring him back in the face. He took a big swallow before he found his voice, "Why the hell'd you draw me?"

Natsu tried to not notice the small cringe Lucy gave at his classy choice in language-he knew she hated it but it could not help it sometimes (blame his lovely upbringing)-but she smiled his way nonetheless before replying, "I don't know, I wanted to draw something I cherish the most."

It had to be the summer heat because Natsu felt the temperature sky rocket, making him grab his white tee shirt and giving it a jostle to get some air flowing. He gulped before finally finding his voice "Well...that's stupid. Why'd you go and waste your time on that...chalk drawings are silly."

And once again, Natsu wished he had the ability to use words the way Lucy could. He wanted to punch himself in the face after seeing the look Lucy had given him before she had silently kneeled back down on the pavement, collecting the chalk. What scared him the most was how silent she was doing all of this; usually Lucy would blow up and beat him until he was near death and begging for mercy, but this time...this time, he was a total and complete moron.

He did not deserve her as a friend.

"What do you mean?"

'Shit,' Natsu blushed, he had not realized he had voiced his thoughts until Lucy had finally spoke up.

"Uhhh," The pink haired boy scratched the backside of his head, a nervous tick he had developed from who knows where, "I just..."

Then he noticed his skateboard he had left stranded next to where he was laying earlier, a sudden idea coming to him. He knew words would probably fail him again and he needed to make it up to Luce. Grabbing a nearby piece of chalk, Natsu went to work, scribbling a note onto the rough piece of wood, covering the normally black top with a message for his friend.

Lucy was still kneeling on the ground, confused entirely by her friend's behaviour but waiting for his explanation. She knew he had not meant those earlier harsh words but whether or not he did was besides the point; she had admitted out loud how much he meant to her and instead of doing the mature thing for once, he had thrown it back at her with his silly immature stupidity.

She sighed, what else had she expected? Lucy had felt these weird feelings developing over time and only recently had she realized that she might feel something more than friendship for her best friend. Blame it on puberty but something about the silly, obnoxious, and loud boy had attracted her.

Suddenly something knocked into her legs. Lucy glanced down and noticed it was Natsu's skateboard. She looked up and saw that, yes, Natsu had been the one to push it towards her. He looked incredibly nervous and Lucy did not understand why until she looked back down at the piece of wood on wheels only to finally notice the words that were chicken-scratched onto its surface.

'Im sorry,' It started, 'I say stupid things but I hope u know u mean alot to mee to.'

Lucy blinked back a couple tears that wanted to escape before standing up and running over to Natsu, crashing into the shocked preteen and wrapping her arms around him. Shoving her face into his scrawny chest, she giggled and whispered a 'thank you'.

Natsu gulped, absolutely red in the face, but secretly so incredibly happy that the message had gotten across. Lucy was special to him and although he was nowhere near ready to consider her as girlfriend material, he knew she would be a part of his life for as long as she wanted him in her life.

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**A/N: **Soooo, wrote this after being inspired by my lil' punk of a brother tried teaching me how to ride a skateboard. The skateboard lessons did not pan out but I got this little plot bunny in my head of a little Natsu skateboarding...although the skateboard part became quite a small part of this drabble. I'm not sure how I feel about this one and was even too lazy to really edit it like I usually do...gosh, that's my pet peeve but still. Either way, let me know your thoughts. :)

And someone asked about my moving to Japan...I'll be moving August 3rd to teach English in the Miyagi prefecture up north for at least a year. I'll have access to internet to no worries on that front. :D


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